Fast food outlets proliferate every street corner in the U.S. While fast food restaurants are taking steps to improve the quality and healthiness of their products, they have failed to improve the delivery of such products. That is, hot foods (e.g., French fries, chicken tenders, etc.) are routinely provided to customers in open type containers which allow the food's heat to escape and fail to provide customers or the fast food outlet with consistently sized portions. Some fast food outlets have started to serve food (e.g., chicken strips) in closed containers having hinged lids. However, such containers are considerably more expensive than the open type containers and are difficult for employees to close and customers to open. In addition, many of the current containers require or encourage employees to contact the food. Such contact can be unhealthy for, and unsightly to, customers.
Typical fast food containers are formed of paper-based products because of their low cost and mass availability. The benefits of such paper-based products are still attractive, but a new, simple paper-based container design is in order. A new design should overcome the shortcomings of the prior art fast food containers while remaining inexpensive.